Late Paychecks in Eastern Europe, Former Soviet States

Story Highlights

More than one in five part-time workers (22%) have had payment delayed

One in 10 workers in EU member states have waited to be paid

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Thousands of Hungarians this week are protesting new labor laws that allow companies to demand up to 400 hours of overtime a year from their workers and to delay paying them for up to three years. While it's difficult to imagine waiting three years to be paid, it is not wholly uncommon for workers in Eastern Europe and former Soviet states to have their paychecks delayed.

One in seven workers (14%) in the 29 countries that Gallup surveyed in 2017 said there were times in the past month that their employers delayed paying them money for the work they had done. Part-time workers were more likely than full-time employees to be dealing with this: 22% of part-time workers said this had happened to them, compared with 14% of full-time workers.

Employer Delayed Paying for Work Done in the Past Month

All countries

EU member states in Eastern Europe

Former Soviet states

Non-EU members in Eastern Europe

%

%

%

%

Work status

All workers

14

11

16

16

Part-time workers

22

18

23

33

Full-time workers

14

10

15

15

Gender

Male

17

13

19

18

Female

12

8

13

14

Education

Primary education or less

20

18

21

24

Secondary education

16

13

18

17

College degree or higher

10

5

12

12

Based on surveys in 29 countries

Gallup World Poll, 2017

Looking at this by region, delayed paychecks are more common for workers in former Soviet states (16%) and non-European Union member states (16%), but the current situation in Hungary demonstrates how workers in EU member states are not exempt. One in 10 workers in EU countries in Eastern Europe (11%) say this has happened to them in the past month.

At the same time, similar groups in each of these regions are more affected by this than others. For example, in every region, part-time workers are more likely than full-time workers to have had their paychecks delayed. However, this is even more pronounced in non-EU-member states, where one in three part-time workers (33%) have had their payments held.

Men in each of these regions -- regardless of whether they are full or part time -- are affected disproportionately compared with women. Overall, 17% of male workers say this has happened to them, versus 12% of female workers.

Education does provide some buffer in all of these regions and situations. Workers with college degrees or higher education -- who may be more likely to be in higher-earning, white-collar jobs -- are at least half as likely as those with primary education or less to have had their paychecks delayed.

Bottom Line

Delayed wages are an issue for a number of workers in Eastern European countries and former Soviet states, but particularly for those who are working part time and the typical breadwinners in the region -- men. These are also the two groups that can likely least afford it.

In Hungary's case, the delay is being backed by the government as a way to solve the country's labor shortage problems and was signed into law on Thursday. Not all employees and employers will be required to do this -- and it would take effect only if both parties agree through a collective bargaining agreement. But in the end, it could be the country's workers who will truly pay.

Results are based on face-to-face interviews with approximately 1,000 adults per year, aged 15 and older, in each of 29 countries in Eastern Europe and former Soviet states in 2017. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error ranges from ±2.5 percentage points to ±3.8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

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